Romeo and Juliet
"Romeo and Juliet" at the Kyiv Opera is a modern interpretation of a love story that defies rules, statuses, and other people's expectations. A good option for an evening when you want to switch from your routine and look at a familiar plot from a completely different angle.
Here Shakespeare meets a conventional modernity: a world of elites, corporate rules, and young people who refuse to live “as they should.” And yes, this story still sounds very recognizable.
About the opera "Romeo and Juliet"
Charles Gounod's opera, staged by the Kyiv Opera, brings the classic plot into a modern context. According to director Dmytro Todoryuk, the Capulets are a closed world of influential people and strict rules, and the Montagues are young people who are not used to being silent and conforming.
On stage, there is not only the love story of Romeo and Juliet, but also the conflict of generations, freedom and control. That is why the play works not as a "mandatory classic from school", but as an emotional story about choosing oneself.
The opera is performed in Ukrainian. The performance lasts 2 hours and 30 minutes. This is the format of the evening when you can completely turn off your phone and immerse yourself in the music, voices, and stage tension.
What awaits on stage
The production combines large-scale choral scenes, modern set design, costumes, and lively emotion that keeps the audience engaged until the finale.
The roles of Romeo and Juliet are performed by Natalia Chepchenko, Hanna Shevchenko, Hanna Tverdova, Danylo Kotok, Oleksandr Pylypchuk, and Ihor Povazhny.
People's Artist of Ukraine Vasyl Vasylenko is conducting. The production was created by director Dmytro Todoryuk, costume designer Dmytro Kuryata, and set designer Veronika Ryzhenko.
Worth a visit if…
- want to make the evening special without the banal “movie and dinner”;
- you like dramatic stories where feelings are stronger than rules;
- Are you looking for cultural anti-workdays in Kyiv?
- Are you planning a date or a night out?
- I like the modern take on the classics without the dust and pathos.
Sometimes opera isn't about "making sense." It's about the opportunity to breathe, be among your own people, and for a few hours feel like you're in another life.
- When: see current dates in the schedule
- Where: Kyiv Opera (Kyiv Municipal Academic Opera and Ballet Theater), 2 Mezhyhirska St.
- Genre: Opera in 2 acts
- Features: performed in Ukrainian, modern reading of Shakespeare's tragedy, duration — 2 hours 30 minutes